I love whiskey. I offer here a simple dedication to the wonder that is whiskey. Whether it is Scotch, Irish, Japanese, Canadian, bourbon, rye, corn, or malt, here are some reviews, opinions, notes, stories, anecdotes, photos, and warnings on my journey to improve my relationship with this mighty invention. Enjoy and share!

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Saturday, March 30, 2013

Tips from British farmers on hiding your drinking from your wife

A wonderful scotch whiskey and a great story, Sheep Dip is a
blended malt scotch whiskey from Spencerfield Spirit Company in the Kingdom of
Fife, Scotland. I was prompted to try Sheep Dip by its listing in Ian Buxton’s 101
Whiskies to Try Before You Die.

The name Sheep Dip is a tribute to a time when British farmers referred to their
own “home-made” whiskey as Sheep Dip in an attempt to avoid paying taxes. Love
it! Farmers would hide their whiskey in barrels marked “Sheep Dip” and farmers’ merchants
would often list whiskey on bills as “Sheep Dip” to hide it from the farmers’
wives. :-)

One of these days I’ll write a post about my own family’s
history with home distilling. Almost a hundred years ago, my Grandfather and
his brothers and cousins ran stills in the mountains of North Carolina and
Wyoming.It is a great story with a rich
history of incidents with law enforcement.Some of my earliest memories are of my dad’s brothers visiting us and
bringing moonshine from NC.

This is my kind of Scotch.It has a light floral, fruity smell with warm hints of honey and
smoke.It has no heavy peat taste that
(at this time) doesn’t appeal to me. This light and warm blend of malts, honey,
and spices is a perfect introduction to Scotch, in my opinion. A much better choice than the bottom shelf
Scotches that many people try for the first time then declare that they don’t care
for Scotch.

Try it neat.Sheep
Dip is a 40% APV (80 Proof) and shouldn’t require much, if any, cutting. Perhaps a few
drops of water to suit your taste. I have seen comments that Sheep Dip can be
hard to find. Not my experience at all. I recently picked up a bottle at BevMo
at a very reasonable price.

Spencerfield Spirit Company is wholly owned and run by Alex
and Jane Nicol. The story of the creation of this company and how Sheep Dip
got started is told in Buxton’s book and at the Spencerfield website. Check it
out and fall in love with this entrepreneurial story.